Find a nursery

What is a school nursery?

A nursery class is a pre-school class attached to a school. They provide early education and childcare to children usually aged between three and five years. They are normally open from 9am until 3.30pm and you may be offered either a morning or afternoon session, they are closed during school holidays. All are registered with Ofsted and inspected and offer a Government-approved early years curriculum.

Nursery schools and classes can be part of the state education system and are free except for meals and trips. Some are private or voluntary sector organisations and they charge fees. They all offer experience and development activities suitable for your child’s age.

What about full-time childcare?

You may decide that you require extra childcare to fit around the hours offered. Some nursery schools/classes do provide out of school care before and after school during term time and holiday playschemes. Information is available on other pages about using registered or approved childcare.

Part-time nursery places

Children may have a part-time place in a school nursery in the term following their third birthday. Most parents / carers choose to start their child at nursery in the September of the academic year (the academic year runs from 1 September to 31 August) in which the child is four.

If there are more requests than part-time places available, we use the criteria explained on the full-time nursery placespage to decide which children should be offered places. You should ask your preferred school for an application form.

Schools nurseries carry out their own administrative procedures for admissions. There is no right of appeal against the decision to refuse admission to nurseries.

Full-time nursery places

We provide a small number of full-time places in a few schools. The places are offered to families in greatest need. The types of need that we take into consideration include:

children with special educational needs (SEN)

children with a social or medical need.

are housed in temporary accommodation

are cared for by a lone parent

are refugees or asylum-seekers

are from a family receiving Income Support

have English as an additional language

are from a family with a number of pre-school-age children.

If your child has one or more of these needs, they may be given a higher priority for a place, but there is no guarantee of a full time place. If you think your child has any of these needs, please contact your preferred school or centre to discuss this in detail.

Parents / carers should note that admission to a nursery class in a school does not guarantee a place in the reception class at the same school, and separate application forms must be completed for the nursery and the reception class.

Further information

Page Last Updated:

10 July 2018

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